UFT members size up 2021 candidates (Sidebar: come to our next mayoral forum)
 
With many major city government positions up for grabs in the next election, the UFT is organizing remote member screening panels and virtual town halls to get to know candidates and determine who the union should endorse in 35 City Council races as well as races for mayor, comptroller, four borough presidents and Manhattan district attorney.

A weeklong strike at the Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx ended on Jan. 23 with workers winning their largest pay raise in decades and more money for health coverage. More than 1,400 workers, who have been working through the pandemic to help supply produce to New York City, has voted to strike.

Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama began holding the corporation’s first union vote in the United States on Feb. 8. Amazon does not employ any union labor in the country and the approximately 5,800 fulfillment center employees are facing stiff opposition from the tech giant.

Miguel Cardona, President Joe Biden's nominee for education secretary, pledged at a Senate hearing on Feb. 3 to reopen schools with new science-based guidance, to expand testing and to prioritize coronavirus vaccines for teachers.

Thirteen thousand UFT members were matched with vaccine providers NYU Langone or EmblemHealth in the first six days of the UFT’s vaccine distribution program, eliminating the need for them to search for locations on their own. Priority is given to in-service members who currently have in-school assignments.

Licensed Practical Nurses who are members of the Federation of Nurses/ UFT overwhelmingly ratified a two-year contract with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York in which the union made no concessions while achieving a salary increase and negotiating regular consultation meetings with the employer.

This is the February issue of the citywide parent newsletter.

The following email was sent on Tuesday, Jan. 26, to UFT-represented licensed practical nurses at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York from UFT Vice President for Non-DOE Members Anne Goldman.

The following email was sent on Tuesday, Jan. 5, to UFT-represented registered nurses at NYU Langone Hospital — Brooklyn from UFT Vice President for Non-DOE Members Anne Goldman.

Miguel Cardona, a career educator and the Connecticut state education commissioner, is President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for U.S. education secretary. The nomination on Dec. 22 fulfills Biden's campaign promise to select an educator to lead the U.S. Department of Education. "Miguel Cardona is the right choice," said UFT President Michael Mulgrew.